Эрин Хантер - Thunder Аnd Shadow

“After all this tim e?” Violetpaw looked unconvinced.

“Don’t you want to find her?” Frustration welled in Twigpaw’s throat.

The bracken behind Violetpaw swished. “Find who?” Needlepaw padded out.

Violetpaw j erked her m uzzle round, her pelt pricking guiltily. “Hi, Needletail.”

Needletail. The ShadowClan apprentice must have given herself a warrior name after leaving her Clan.

She stopped beside Violetpaw. “Find who ?” she repeated, her ears flattening.

Twigpaw lifted her chin. “Our mother,” she mewed, ignoring the fear rippling through her pelt. Needletail had grown. Her body was long and sleek, her tail thick and glossy. And there was threat in her gaze. “I think she might be alive and searching for us. I want Violetpaw to help m e look for her.”

“Why?” Needletail leaned close, her eyes narrowing. “She has a fam ily here with the rogues.” Her gaze flicked to Violetpaw. “Don’t y ou?”

“Yes,” Violetpaw answered quickly. “The rogues are m y kin now. They’re way nicer to m e than ShadowClan used to be. And Needletail is like a sister.”

Hurt j abbed Twigpaw’s belly. But I’m your sister! I’ve been worrying about you for moons.

Had Violetkit forgotten they were littermates? “So you won’t help m e find her?” She felt suddenly weary. Her anger at Alderpaw seem ed to drain into the ground.

Violetpaw stared at Twigpaw, her gaze softening a little. “I can’t just leave my campmates.

They’ve fed m e and protected m e. It would be wrong to leave with y ou.”

Needletail’s tail twitched. “Darktail takes loy alty very seriously.” Her mew was a growl.

Instinctively, Twigpaw backed away.

Violetpaw blinked at her sister. “I’m sorry, Twigpaw. I can’t help y ou. You should go home.”

“Yeah, Clan cat,” Needletail sneered. “Go home where it’s safe.” She glanced upslope, as though watching for rogues.

Twigpaw’s belly tightened. What if the rogues found her here? Needletail clearly wasn’t going to defend her.

“Come on, Violetpaw.” Needletail headed into the bracken. “Our campmates will be expecting us”

“I’m sorry.” Violetpaw blinked at Twigpaw, then held her gaze for a m om ent before turning away.

Twigpaw watched the bracken swallow her sister. She stood, frozen, her heart em pty.

Alderpaw thought her mother was dead. Violetpaw didn’t seem to care if she was alive. She suddenly felt foolish. She’d created such a scene. And no cat was interested.

She glanced toward the forest. It looked green under the pale blue sky. The sun shone, and she knew that bey ond the trees the lake would be glittering.

Perhaps finding her mother was a dum b idea. Even if she was still alive, she might have new kits by now. What would she care about two kits she’d abandoned moons ago? Wearily Twigpaw turned her paws toward home and padded down the slope.

Violetpaw glanced over her shoulder, trying to catch a final glim pse of Twigpaw through the bracken. But the young stem s blocked her view. Doubt tugged in her belly. Should I have gone with her? She is my littermate, after all.

“Hurry up!” Needletail flicked her tail as they broke from the bracken and reached the sm ooth stretch of grass that led toward camp. “The hunting patrols will be back soon, and I’m hungry.”

Patrols! Violetpaw huffed quietly to herself. The rogues’ idea of a patrol was nothing like ShadowClan’s. Darktail would suddenly decide prey was needed and send cats to hunt, rem inding them as they left to m ark the group’s ever-changing borders. There was no sense of the organization and routine she’d been used to in ShadowClan.

Perhaps they’ll learn eventually. Violetpaw quickened her step. She had hardly recognized her sister. Twigpaw looked so different. And she seem ed so ThunderClan . Violetpaw suddenly understood what Needletail, Beenose, and the other form er ShadowClan cats meant when they j oked about ThunderClan acting as though they were better than every other Clan. Had Twigpaw really expected Violetpaw to abandon her campmates to go on som e m ouse-brained mission to find their dead mother? Violetpaw’s pelt pricked irritably. Twigpaw only comes to see me when she wants something. She hasn’t tried to find me in the four moons since I left. Hasn’t she been worried about me? She huffed to herself. She thinks her needs are more important than anyone else’s.

Besides, what m ade her think their mother was alive? Of course she’s dead. Why else would she have left them? Twigpaw thinks she’s so smart. Typical ThunderClan, Violetpaw huffed to herself crossly.

Needletail glanced at her. “What are you growling about?”

Violetpaw shook out her pelt. “Nothing.” She didn’t want to complain about Twigpaw to Needletail. Twigpaw was annoy ing, but she was kin. Although Needletail felt more like her kin now. But what about the others? Violetpaw wondered if she would ever feel as close to her other campmates as she did to Needletail. Raven wasn’t as kind as she had been before Violetpaw had j oined the group. None of the rogues were. And the ShadowClan cats who had j oined them had as little patience for her now as they’d had when she’d lived with them in ShadowClan.

But I have Needletail, Violetpaw com forted herself. She’s all I need.

Paw steps thrum m ed the ground. Violetpaw followed Needletail’s gaze as her m entor looked toward the camp. Rain and Sleekwhisker bounded toward them, each carry ing a m ouse. They skidded to a halt beside Needletail and Violetpaw.

“You’re running!” Needletail blinked at them in surprise. “Is a fox chasing y ou?”

Sleekwhisker dropped her m ouse. “Why shouldn’t we run? We were worried our campmates might be hungry.” She flashed Rain an am used look. “Weren’t we?”

Rain purred. “Sure.”

Needletail scowled j ealously at Sleekwhisker and pushed between the two cats.

Violetpaw didn’t believe either of them. She could see flattened fur on Sleekwhisker’s flank where she had been ly ing down. More than once, Violetpaw and Needletail had caught

Sleekwhisker dozing in the newleaf sunshine. Rain too. Neither of them seem ed to think hunting was very im portant these day s.

Needletail glanced at the m ice, clearly unim pressed. “That’s not going to feed us all. Let’s hope Cloverfoot and Roach got a better catch. I’m starving.”

Sleekwhisker whisked her tail crossly. “What did you catch?”

“We weren’t supposed to be hunting.” Needletail lifted her chin. “I was teaching Violetpaw som e new fighting m oves.”

Sleekwhisker stared witheringly at Violetpaw. “I don’t know why you bother training her. We don’t live in a Clan any more. Let her learn to fight and hunt the way rogues learn—by experience. Or isn’t she sm art enough?”

Needletail showed her teeth. “Violetpaw is going to be a warrior , not a rogue.”

Rain stiffened. “Are you thinking of going back to ShadowClan?”

“Of course not!” Needletail snorted. “But warriors fight better than rogues.”

Rain’s whiskers twitched. “Tell that to Onestar .”

Needletail tipped her head. “But he wasn’t fighting just any rogue.” Her mew softened flirtatiously. “He was fighting you .”

Rain’s eyes sparkled. “So you think I fight like a warrior?” He padded around Needletail, brushing against her.